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Quote1 An Aleph contains two eggs, one light, one dark. One day, one night. I am Ex Nihilo, she is Abyss. We are as we have always been--two, not one. Quote2
Ex Nihilo[src]

This Abyss was the last in existence, as all the others had died upon becoming obsolete when their creators, the Builders, built the newuniversal superstructure.[2] She and Ex Nihilo created a Garden on Mars but came into conflict with the Avengers when they tried to transform the Earth; their "Mother," Captain Universe, stopped them.[3]

When the Builders waged war on the universe, Abyss and Ex Nihilo, along with fellow Builder systems Starbrand and Nightmask, joined the Avengers and helped them defeat their former masters.[4] However, the Builders only attacked because the universe was dying and the Multiverse was collapsing due to the incursions.[5] Unable to fix the decay, Abyss and Ex Nihilo joined Sunspot's Multiversal Avengers to traverse the Multiverse and figure out the cause of the collapse.[6] In the end, they found those responsible, and Abyss and Ex Nihilo sacrificed themselves in a confrontation with the enemy, the Beyonders.[7]

History

Origin[]

This specimen was an Abyss carried as an egg along with her brother the Gardener Ex Nihilo by an Aleph, who taught them to transform any species they encountered into perfect creatures. That is to accomplish their purpose, which is to transform the universe into a perfect vision of the Builders.[8]

Abyss (Ex Nihilo) (Earth-616) from Avengers NOW! Vol 1 1 002

They finally arrived on Mars and terraformed the red planet, creating an atmosphere, vegetation and flash-shepherded years of evolution, in hopes of creating a "perfected" version of mankind. After Nihilo shot an Origin Bomb at Earth to accelerate the evolution of mankind, he affected almost two million people. The Avengers scrambled a response team, which was captured by Nihilo.[9]

The cavalry arrived as soon as Nihilo's first human was fully developed. He and his allies fought the Avengers until they noticed the presence of, newly an Avenger, Captain Universe, recognizing her as a power beyond them they must obey. Abyss and Nihilo agreed to stop their crossing to transform and/or destroy "imperfect" worlds from Captain Universe's order. Unfortunately, Aleph disobeyed Captain Universe and tried to attack her, which resulted in him getting destroyed by the heroine. Finally, before returning home, the Avengers established that Nihilo could reform Mars as he pleased, but exclusively that planet.[10]

When Captain Universe sensed a new threat coming to Earth, her own children, the Builders, she advised the Avengers to recruit Abyss and her brother into the team, which they did.[11]

Infinity[]

When the Avengers opposed the Builders, who were making their way through the universe to destroy Earth, Ex Nihilo and Abyss encountered numerous other individuals of the Gardeners, Ex Nihilo's species.

Ex Nihilo learned that after the creation of a new universal structure, the Builders recalled all the Gardeners and forbidden them from harvesting worlds, and the Gardeners were relegated to being servants to those who created them; almost all of the other Abysses also died.[2] Resentful for how the Builders had downgraded them, the Gardeners helped their brother to wake up Captain Universe, and turn the tide of the conflict to favor the Avengers.[12]

After the defeat of the Builders and Alephs, the Gardeners and Abyss returned to their work of growing life in worlds.[13]

Time Runs Out[]

Due to the contraction of the Multiverse, the universe started decaying, and the Gardeners attempted to fix it, but couldn't. When the coalescing center of this decay focused on a single point, the Earth, the Gardeners, and Abyss returned to Earth to investigate.[14] Once on Earth, the Gardeners were able to see its whole system and find that the planet had scars. They were offered by Bobbi Da Costa a one-way trip to investigate the origin of this decay by using A.I.M. technology and travel across the Multiverse.[15]

The Multiversal Avengers traveled across numerous universes, navigating the map left by the Mapmakers. After one last jump across universes that cost Nightmask's life, the Avengers found themselves face to face with a fissure in time and space. From it, two Beyonders emerged and demanded the heroes to fall back. Upon denying their request, the Avengers faced the Beyonders. In an attempt to reprogram one of the Beyonders, Abyss and the Ex Nihili sacrificed themselves.[7]

Attributes

Power Grid[18]
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Powers

  • Gaseous Form: Abyss seems to be composed of a living gas. She is mostly invulnerable to physical harm, although she can still be harmed by unconventional attacks. She can solidify her form at will.
  • Mind Alteration: Abyss possesses the ability to suggest ideas, and manipulate certain beings into acting the way she wants.[16]
  • Essence Reading: Abyss also seems to have some ability to analyze life forms, as she was able to tell that Thor was of a mythic origin simply by looking at him.
  • Self-Sustenance: Abyss can function in atmospheres that would kill a human.[16]

Trivia

  • Where Ex Nihli are creators/personifications of the potential for life, it could be construed that Abyss are representations of death - their natural antithesis. But given that Ex Nihil themselves are able to eliminate/prevent life and the fact the Abyss cannot be killed by conventional means, a more accurate assumption is that she is a representation of nothingness, void, the absence of life rather than the removal of it. Thus she too represents utter potential as all voids can be refilled. She may even be incapable of actually taking life as her primary means of attack and defense involve acting through others.
  • She may be the only Abyss left in the entire Multiverse, as Hank Pym found none at the Last Refuge of the Builders.[17]

See Also

Links and References

References

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